Turbo Trainer & Solar Panels

This has the details of how Team Sky uses batteries to power their Kickrs for warm ups before races. Stages, Wahoo sponsor Team Sky, CycleOps sponsors Trek Pro team, and Team Lampre on ROTOR Power, Movistar on Power2Max | DC Rainmaker Plenty light enough to just take inside to recharge when needed.

5 Likes

+1 this.
I use deep cycle batteries to run my telescope mount and all the heaters that stop the dew ruining this. It also runs my laptop and all the camera equipment for several hours when I find the time and energy.
The power requirement is the same as the Core and it’s easy to get DC 12v fans.

My rule has always been to get a battery that’s got twice the Ah I’ll need. That way you never drop below 50% charge and the batteries last many years.
There are also things like cheap watt meters and voltage regulators (with fuses) that can be wired inline to protect your $$$$ equipment.

Using solar panels to charge works OK, but I’ve always found it easier to make the power supply portable and charge it on mains power.

The builder in me wants to bypass the need for all that and find you an easier way to get power into your garage. Are you sure you can’t run power easily?
There are so many ways to skin a cat.

It would be interesting to see how this system holds up if someone attached the charger while in use. No inline fuse. No voltage regulator. Nothing to stop you reversing polarity by accident.
At least Sky can just grab a few more Kickrs if needed. Cheap as chips really. ;).

PS. Seeing as I already have a decent portable power supply handy I’ll try it on my Core later today and let you know how much current it draws at various resistance levels. I’ve been meaning to test it out anyway.

If the numbers I found for the Core are accurate, ~1.5A at 240V requires at least 360W to run.

HTFU, man.

1 Like

I’d caution you to be really really careful with testing out your Core with this stuff. If you aren’t already aware, people are frying the speed sensors in their Kickr Cores left and right because of simple ESD, rendering the trainers useless. I can’t imagine that Wahoo would honor a warranty replacement if you hooked up a power supply other than that which came with the unit.

Anyway, that’s something to consider. Much more here.

2 Likes

I appreciate the words of caution. I would not recommend anyone void their warranty or risk damaging their expensive turbo trainers.
That’s what I was getting at with my comment about Team Sky’s setup.

I’m really not too concerned about hooking the unit up. The camera chip alone on my other gear is worth more than a Kickr and I had no issue designing that setup without endangering delicate electronics.
There’s nothing special about the new power brick Wahoo sent me.

1 Like

Odds are you’re a smarter dude than me on this stuff! :+1:

I don’t know about the core, but the power supply for the Kickr steps down the wall voltage and may switch it to DC. If you have any electronics background you can check the output of the power supply. You may be able to use solar cells with a battery and a step down circuit depending on what the Core needs. Going the inverter route would be less effecient.

Not smarter. Odds are I’ve got way more experience at making mistakes with electronics. Lots and lots of mistakes!

For anyone who’s interested…
The Kickr Core chews a couple of watts at idle.
General spinning at 100 to 200 watts chews less than 10 watts once you settle your cadence.
The highest spike I could achieve when stomping on the pedals with the resistance turned up was 67 watts.

If I ditch the 7 watts from 67 to allow for the switching adapter doing it’s thing you end up with 60 watts divided by 12v = 5amps.
The switching adapter was putting out 12.5v when not under load and is center pin positive on the output.

HTH with some calcs for batteries if it comes to that.
Personally, I’d just sell the Core and buy a Neo.

2 Likes

Something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Battery-Generator-Rechargeable-Inverter/dp/B01MA4YVNP?tag=trainerroad-20 (from a thread about battery powering fans).

IANAE (I am not an electrician)!

1 Like

I came here to suggest something like this, a big ‘power bank’. That CHAFON model states it has 31 AH (amp-hours) and also has a port for solar charging - bonus! So, if you pull less than 10 amps, then you have about 3 hours of battery. Looking around online a 21-inch box fan on high pulls maybe 16 amps, and 10 amps on low. A trainer wont pull hardly anything, - right? So that CHAFON would get you about 1.5 hours with a fan on high. You could also look for a used UPS if you need a deal. Just haul it out to the shed, use it, then haul it back to the house, and recharge it for next time.

Just got round to reading all your comments. I think I’m just gonna have to get a big ass extension cable and hope the neighbour doesn’t complain. Eventually I’ll try my luck and ask if I can run a power cable on his back wall into my garage

Thanks people

1 Like

Hi…you need panel, an inverter, battery for off daylight time and a charge controller if you go that route, breakers, fuses and connections or adapters to power the trainer. While you could do small loads, and maybe they make kits for this, it seems expensive for a somewhat severe limitation.

prototype pcb

Tacx Bushido runs on its own power. Might be the easiest option.

I live in a forest, so when the wind kicks up, we occasionally loose power.


I was curious whether I could run my Kickr 17 off a battery. The power supply output is rated at 12 volts and 5 amps. I put an inline meter between the power supply and the Kickr and measured my most recent workout–McAdie +1 followed by 30 min of endurance. Here’s a screen shot of the meter showing less than 1 amp/hr for the 2 hr workout.

Peak current was just over 3 amps.
My conclusion is that a not very big battery would get you through most of the TR workouts.

4 Likes

Thanks to all those who contributed their ideas and solutions here.

I had to move my kickr setup to keep the peace with my neighbour but extension leads aren’t practical there, so began the research. I also have a family member prone to leaving headlights on and running car batteries flat.

My two-birds-with-one-stone solution is a car jump starter with a 12v cigarette output, using a cigarette 12v to 2.5mm laptop charger cable (that just happens to have a 5a fuse as well). It’s only a few $ more expensive than a bare bones setup similar to what Wahoo put together for Team Sky. It also has USB outputs for charging my phone and iPad (using both for workouts but that’s another story).

All massive overkill considering the pitiful amount of power the kickr uses, but can you put a price on all round peace of mind?!

4 Likes

If you think about it for a second, all a trainer would need is a small internal rechargeable battery to power the electronics when the rider is not generating enough power to do so. It’s a bit idiotic that a piece of equipment requiring 36W at peak, on which a rider generates >150W average would need an external power supply…

I assume this is how the Neo does it? it it capable of connecting BT /ANT+ without the rider pedaling? Or do you need to start pedaling to power it before it can connect?

Clip from Garmin/Tacx site:

Train Unplugged
While not plugged into a power source, these Tacx Smart trainers can be powered simply by pedaling. Unplugged mode allows you to pair to your training app or cycling computer for total control of your Tacx Smart trainer. Bluetooth connection to a previously paired app happens automatically once you start to pedal the trainer.
Tacx NEO 2T Smart
Tacx NEO 2 Smart
Tacx NEO Bike
Tacx NEO Bike Plus
Tacx NEO Smart
NOTE: Descent Simulation is not available while trainers are unplugged from power.

3 Likes

Pretend I’m really dumb when it comes to this stuff… if I have a shed in my yard without power connected and I’m sick of running an extension lead from my laundry in order to power a Kickr and carpet blower fan, is something like a Bluetti AC70 a valid option?

Should be fine.

But I think it is an odd solution when rollers and dumb trainers exist.

1 Like